Page 66 of My Three Mountain Men

“I should have kept looking,” I growled, furious with myself. “That’s my job. It’s my part in this family.”

Again, she stopped, this time to put her hands on my shoulders. “Knox, I know you’re looking for someone to blame, but it’s not you. It’s Aimee who started this crazy shit. She set up her own boyfriend and literally tried to kill me. That bitch is out of control. She needs to be stopped. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You shouldn’t leave, Simone. It’s not safe for you.”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I’m going with the sheriff,” she reminded me, but I wasn’t sold on his ability to protect her. I’d seen the way he’d looked at her when she’d told her story. He wasn’t buying it.

“We should come with you—”

“Stop it,” she said flatly, dropping her arms. “This doesn’t have anything to do with you guys. I should have checked to see what that woman was up to. I just…”

She trailed off and stared blankly at a wall. “I guess I got caught up in the seclusion of being up here. It’s addictive, isn’t it?”

“It can be—if you give it a chance,” I told her pleadingly. “You can take care of all that legal crap from here—”

“Please don’t make this any harder than it already is. You know I really can’t take care of it from here. Plus, all of my stuff, my money, my clothes… I need to get back to my life, Knox.”

What about the life you have here?I wanted to yell at her, but I managed to swallow my question.

Brooks appeared in the doorway.

“I hate to rush you, Simone, but Sheriff Commons is being a real asshole today. He really thinks this is a social media prank now that you’ve been found alive.”

Simone’s whole body stiffened at the suggestion, and I wanted to throw my arms around her to protect her, but I didn’t dare when she seemed ready to pop.

“Just get this straightened out and come back,” I told her as she nodded curtly, leaving the bag after all that fussing and making her way toward the door.

She paused to look at me sympathetically, and then Brooks.

“Guys…” she murmured, lowering her eyes.

“No, Simone, don’t say anything right now,” Brooks told her firmly. “You’ve got a lot on your mind—”

“It doesn’t matter what’s on my mind right now,” she interrupted. “It doesn’t change the fact that everyone knows I’m here now. I’ve totally blown your cover. Everything you’ve worked so hard to maintain for almost a decade, I’ve screwed up in a season!”

“You haven’t screwed up anything!” I exploded. “That witch—”

Brooks held up a hand. “Look, emotions are running really high right now. This isn’t the time to make any rash decisions.”

Simone frowned. “Aren’t you listening, Brooks? The decision was made for us. The peace and tranquility we knew here will never be the same. It’s ruined because of what happened. This is the sign I needed to move on.”

I felt like I’d been slapped in the face. “Were you waiting for a sign?”

“Knox, not now,” Brooks growled at me, but I stared at Simone, demanding an answer.

She met my eyes and shrugged, her face softening.

“We all knew this couldn’t last forever, Knox. I wasn’t built to live here like this. You guys knew that from the minute you took me in. This was always temporary.”

“What is taking so long up there?” Sheriff Connors yelled. “For someone rescued off the side of a mountain, she sure does have a great deal to pack!”

Simone ignored him and reached out to embrace me, placing a sweet kiss on my lips.

“I’ll reach out to you when the dust settles,” she promised, drawing back. “Thank you for everything.”

She gave Brooks a hug and kiss, avoiding our gazes as she slipped out into the hallway, and I parted my lips to call out after her.

“Don’t make this any harder on her than it already is, Knox,” Brooks warned me.

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